


the violence of the doves

by smarky



Category: Professional Wrestling, 新日本プロレス | New Japan Pro-Wrestling
Genre: Character Study, Fix-It, M/M, i guess, post 7/20/19
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-06
Updated: 2019-08-06
Packaged: 2020-07-31 18:37:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20119807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smarky/pseuds/smarky
Summary: Sanada loves. Ibushi pushes his welcome too far.





	the violence of the doves

Sanada wakes up before Evil does. That's usually what happens, and usually, Sanada slips out of bed to begin his routine right away. This morning he stays for a while, sits up on the covers and watches Evil sleep, the soft rise and fall of his chest under his worn Misfits t-shirt, the kaleidoscope of hair colors fanned out on his pillow, those familiar lips he could kiss awake, like Prince Charming. 

Evil's eyes open, and then he looks to the side at Sanada. He immediately smiles, quick and instinctive, and Sanada's chest flutters, the room immediately feeling darker and more intimate, their own lovely world. 

Sanada could never give this up. 

Evil pecks him on the cheek and goes to brush his teeth. 

Sanada falls back on the bed, to its squeaky protest, then sighs and rises to get ready. 

He's glad once again that they were able to wrestle early in the tournament and resolve the speck of discontent between them. They talked more after the match. Not a lot, but they did talk. It's not something Sanada usually enjoys, but he knows it's important, chooses to do it anyway. 

In the years since Sanada met Evil, it became clear Evil had to fight to keep up his self esteem. But even as Evil freely expressed his emotions in how he acted, he was never really willing to talk about it, at least not when it related to LIJ. This summer they broke through that. Sanada should have done more to support him before. They all should have. At least now, though, things are clear between them. It feels good to know Evil trusts him enough to be that open, and even better to see him thriving, performing better than any of them this G1. 

If only Sanada's tournament was going so well. His pronouncements on the beach before they began are now a distant dream. 

Beyond his string of losses, there's another thing that's been bothering Sanada lately. It's what Ibushi commented after their match. Is Sanada okay with where he resides right now? Doesn't he want to join Ibushi's side?

Sanada doesn't spend a lot of time listening to others' comments, but this one was impossible to avoid. Even if it weren't for fans tagging him on social media, there was still Naito, playing it back for him and raising an eyebrow, like Sanada could answer for this. 

It's baffling. Well, not exactly, Sanada has some ideas, but it's easier to say that than it is to untangle the knotty threads of Ibushi's mindset. What had Sanada done recently that showed dissatisfaction with LIJ? Nothing he could remember. 

It's almost flattering that Ibushi sees something in Sanada that he likes, enough that he wants it for his group. But the arrogance that comes with that, the idea that Sanada of course must want to be on the company's team, that there's no other logical choice for someone like him… What is Ibushi seeing in him, that he thinks they're so similar? Is it just their wrestling styles? Does everything Sanada cares about fall away just because he currently doesn't find much use in defying the referee? 

Yes, the rest of LIJ cheats much more than him, but that's his choice, and they respect that. If he was on the company's team and decided to cheat more, would that be respected? It wouldn't, and that's why even if LIJ wasn't his family, Sanada wouldn't drop them so hastily. 

Ibushi's values are different from his, that's all it probably comes down to. Ibushi is like Tanahashi, lifting the company on his back and accepting that strain leaves no space for anything else. Sanada chooses family. Whether they're "good" to others is meaningless at this juncture. If the Ingobernables were thieves, Sanada would be their getaway driver, and if they were murderers, he would cover their tracks and harbor them in his home. 

Sanada's sure he and Ibushi and Tanahashi would look pretty together, all lined up in New Japan's photoshoots with hearts clutched in their arms. Maybe that would be the right thing to do. But would they let him wear the kind of clothing he favoured, or would that clash with the group aesthetic? Sanada doesn't know. 

In LIJ, there is no group aesthetic. You wear whatever you want to. 

Well, none of that matters. Ibushi is welcoming a dead man. The "Sanada Seiya" he called out to hasn't existed for years. Now, there is only SANADA. 

They're sitting at breakfast, giggling at Hiromu's texts ("Ahh, Daryl got ahold of my phone!!", "Hiromu is eating raw cookie dough again… please tell him off, these are supposed to be Naoru's first baked goods! ;_;") when Ibushi approaches him again. 

"Sanada. I'd like it if you sat with us this morning." He says it warmly, gently, leaning forward in earnest. Sanada wonders if Ibushi knows the brutality in his gentleness. The violence of the doves. 

Noise and movement continues on around them, but for a moment, it feels as if they've entered a bubble where time had frozen over. Evil is unnaturally still next to him. His eyes are fixed on Ibushi, but he doesn't get up, doesn't… persuade Ibushi to leave, the way Sanada can sense he wants to. 

"You'd like that," Sanada replies at last. 

Ibushi looks down at his hands, and then tries again, reaching out with a higher voice as if he's realized his statements are actually questions. 

"Just for a little while. I want to get to know you."

If Ibushi knew anything about him at all, he wouldn't have asked. It's amazing the kinds of things geniuses miss. 

"I look forward to getting to know you--" Sanada feels Evil jerk next to him, startled and maybe a little afraid. He takes Evil's hand and intertwines their fingers on the table where Ibushi can see them. "--in the ring, as opponents."

Ibushi's smile drops, rolls around on the floor under him. "Yes, me too, but shouldn't we--" 

It's always should do this or shouldn't do that. Sanada doesn't have to do anything. This time he doesn't feel enough sympathy to keep his voice from sounding cold. "I'm staying with my family. Please return to yours."

If Ibushi seems not to know what to do at first, maybe it's because his family isn't here at all, but severed, a million miles away in the United States on an adventure he can't take part in. 

Evil offers him a bite of pancake and mouths "I love you", and Sanada knows he made the right choice.

**Author's Note:**

> comments very appreciated! and come talk to me on tumblr @axel-mania 
> 
> hopefully during the 5star ill do more stardom fic lol


End file.
